Scots need to front up in clash with Kiwis

Scotland head coach Steve McCormack is urging his team to front up when they take on New Zealand in their next World Cup match tomorrow.

The Bravehearts are licking their wounds from a 50-4 hammering by Tonga in their opening Group B match and, having moved on to Christchurch, are now looking to pull off what would be the biggest upset in World Cup history.

“Tonga are a world-class team and we let them play in the first half,” said McCormack, whose side trailed 38-0 at the break. “What we’ve got to remember is that we’re a very young team, with a lot of experience missing.

“But I was really proud of how we fronted up in the second half and we need to make sure we start against New Zealand like we finished against Tonga.”

McCormack is playing down any talk of revenge by the Kiwis for their 18-18 draw in their last meeting with the Scots in Workington, which amounted to a humiliating result in the 2016 Four Nations Series.

“That’s gone now,” he said. “They will look forward. They’ve got higher expectations when you put a Kiwi jumper on.

“From our point of view, we haven’t spoken about last year and I’m sure David Kidwell has not done either.

“Coming into the tournament a few people wrote New Zealand off, but we certainly didn’t. I thought they were really good against Samoa.”

McCormack is set to give debuts to Brandon Wilkinson and Jarred Anderson while Addin Fonua-Blake will win his first cap for the Kiwis and 22-year-old playmaker Te Maire Martin will start his first Test match after making his debut off the bench at Workington last November.

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